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Farsight Studios
The Pinball Arcade / Farsight Studios
What's so special about special?
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<blockquote data-quote="Zombie Aladdin" data-source="post: 147345" data-attributes="member: 4242"><p>The answer to the question on the subject is the same as the answer to the original post: The special is referred to as that because a "special" can be something other than a free game and can be adjusted by the operator accordingly (at least from the solid-state era and onwards), hence why it's called a "special" and not a "replay" or a "free game." You can see it right in <em>The Pinball Arcade</em>, where all specials have been changed to be an extra ball.</p><p></p><p>In modern games, a "special" is a replay by default, and most operators are perfectly fine with that, as the odds of a player obtaining a special is infrequent, and I think most people who'd step up to a pinball machine would be delighted in getting a free game. Some operators might not know it can be changed to something else, but they're okay with that too for the same reasons. Specials on these machines can also be an extra ball or a point value. In electromechanical machines, a wheel counter displays the number of credits put into the machine, and racking up specials is one of the objectives. The idea is that you want to have more credits than you started with. Once you have a number you're satisfied with, you notify the operator, who's usually at the establishment, and he or she will reset the counter back to zero and compensate you. (Most often, this system happens at bars, and you get a free drink for each of a certain number of credits you redeem.)</p><p></p><p>Of course, if you can regularly get hour-long games, you are a vast exception to the norm, and you should try competing in PAPA or IFPA competitions. I think the longest game I ever got on a real machine was about 30 minutes on <em>Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines</em>, with the second-longest being about 18 minutes on <em>Spider-Man</em>.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Zombie Aladdin, post: 147345, member: 4242"] The answer to the question on the subject is the same as the answer to the original post: The special is referred to as that because a "special" can be something other than a free game and can be adjusted by the operator accordingly (at least from the solid-state era and onwards), hence why it's called a "special" and not a "replay" or a "free game." You can see it right in [i]The Pinball Arcade[/i], where all specials have been changed to be an extra ball. In modern games, a "special" is a replay by default, and most operators are perfectly fine with that, as the odds of a player obtaining a special is infrequent, and I think most people who'd step up to a pinball machine would be delighted in getting a free game. Some operators might not know it can be changed to something else, but they're okay with that too for the same reasons. Specials on these machines can also be an extra ball or a point value. In electromechanical machines, a wheel counter displays the number of credits put into the machine, and racking up specials is one of the objectives. The idea is that you want to have more credits than you started with. Once you have a number you're satisfied with, you notify the operator, who's usually at the establishment, and he or she will reset the counter back to zero and compensate you. (Most often, this system happens at bars, and you get a free drink for each of a certain number of credits you redeem.) Of course, if you can regularly get hour-long games, you are a vast exception to the norm, and you should try competing in PAPA or IFPA competitions. I think the longest game I ever got on a real machine was about 30 minutes on [i]Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines[/i], with the second-longest being about 18 minutes on [i]Spider-Man[/i]. [/QUOTE]
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The Pinball Arcade / Farsight Studios
What's so special about special?
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